Excel Age Calculation Formula

Among various functions and formulas of Microsoft Excel, knowing how to calculate age from date of birth in Excel is a basic skill to have. At the very least, in my experience as an analyst, this formula has been a lifesaver in several data analysis situations. 

Regardless of where you store birthdates (can be personal spreadsheets) or how you execute professional demographic analysis, the Excel age calculation formula can work effortlessly. 

I have curated this tutorial for you to teach you how to determine age in Excel with different approaches. Rest assured, you can obtain accurate results with every tactic and tackle any challenge you face along the way.

Traditional Approach: Basic Formula for Age in Years

The "standard" way to calculate age in Excel is taking the day of their birth as a reference and comparing it to the current one. This common approach formula is straight-forward, neat and saves you the trouble of calculations. Let me walk you through the same.

Assuming the birthdate is located in cell B2, the basic formula to calculate age in years is as follows:

=(TODAY()-B2)/365

In this formula `TODAY()-B2` stands for the number of days between today's date and the date of the birth. Lastly, to set the number of days you have lived, simply take days lived and divide by 365 to get the number in years.

Integer Based Formula 

Although the Common Approach formula looks simple, under certain situations, it may result in a value in decimals. Furthermore, these decimal outcomes may not really be indicative of a person's actual age including the decimal point. 

To address this issue, the INTEGER function can be employed to round down the decimal to the integer nearest. The syntax of the Integer based Excel age calculation formula is:

=INT((TODAY()-B2)/365)

Nevertheless, even though the basic traditional method of age calculation in Excel may be not totally accurate due to inconsistencies in the dates, such as when a leap year falls on 29th February, it is still used. 

For instance, after dividing by 365 or 365.25, there might be small imprecisions in age calculation but that again calls for a differentiable solution so as to accomplish so much precision in Excel.

In the next part of this tutorial I will continue by examining the remaining alternative methods in greater detail, including the other possible functions and techniques that can be used to obtain an accurate Excel age calculation formula. 

YEARFRAC Formula 

While using the YEARFRAC function (the fraction of years between two dates) seems to be the best way to convert date of birth (DOB) to age in Excel, it is still advisable to use a backup formula to deal with any unexpected situations that may occur.

The syntax of the YEARFRAC function is as follows:

YEARFRAC(start_date, end_date, [basis])

The first two inputs may not require any extra kind of explanations to realize. Unlike other arguments, the basis here is optional. It is the day count basis determined by the value specified.

To create a precise age formula using the YEARFRAC function, follow these steps:

1. Start_date: Enter your dob.

2. End_date: Employ the TODAY() function, thus, the system will automatically insert the current date.

3. Basis: For example, in cases where Excel will treat the values being shown as days per month, indicate this in cell 1 (where the Excel will be countering the actual number of days per month by the actual number of days per year).

The YEARFRAC Excel age calculation formula based on the above set of steps is:

YEARFRAC(born date, Today(), 1)

However, assuming the birthdate is in cell B4, the formula will be:

=YEARFRAC(B2, TODAY(), 1)

For this case, getting the DOB of customers and applying the YEARFRAC Formula is one of the possible solutions.

Rounddown Function

The YEARFRAC function, under certain conditions (similar to the common approach method) generated a decimal as a result. In order to fix this, use the ROUNDDOWN function with 0 being the last argument since you are rounding up not down.

So, here's a refined YEARFRAC Excel age calculation formula, assuming the birthdate is in B4 cell: 

=ROUNDDOWN(YEARFRAC(B5, TODAY(), 1), 0)

DATEDIF Formula

Using the DATEDIF function in Excel for computing age from the date of birth provides a varied spectrum of solutions making the task easier to perform and implement. 

This function makes it possible to identify a difference between dates in different time units and accordingly, this formula becomes convenient for precise age calculation. This Excel age calculation formula follows a simple syntax: 

DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit)

Here is the breakdown of the same to make this explanation easy:

• - start_date: Takes the beginning date as the day of birth.
• - end_date: Indicates the date of the end, usually the date of today’s date is obtained with the help of the TODAY() function.
• - unit: Indicate the time unit used during the calculation, including year (Y) and month (M) and days (D) as well.

The Unit Parameter comprises of: 

• "Y" for a complete number of years comprising the initial date and the final date.
• "M" for complete months.
• "D" for days.
• "YM" represents months and years and even beyond.
• 'MD' for days difference only, not for months and years.
• "YD" for the variance in days with years omitted.

Choosing the Right Unit for Age Calculation With the DATEDIF Function

As we want to know age in years, we further use the UNIT function within the DATEDIF function to refer to the unit "Y". Therefore, Excel is constituted to determine the amount of complete years in between the start and end date to make an age representation more exact.

Constructing the DATEDIF Formula

We are going to compose the DATEDIF formula which says how many years have passed in Excel. Assuming the date of birth is in cell B3, the formula appears as follows: 

=DATEDIF(B2, TODAY(), "Y")

In this case, we define the beginning date as the day of birth (B2) while the ending date would be the current date in the format of TODAY (), where the unit of measurement is given as "Y"to help compute age in years.

Precise Age Calculation With the DATEDIF Function

Contrary to other techniques, the DATEDIF function by default yields the integer number of complete years, thus sparing the expressions used for complete years from being included. This directly standardizes the procedure of age calculation in Excel, providing a straight and evident result deriving from the Microsoft Excel package.

Using the DATEDIF function, is the shortest way to convert the date of the birth data into the most precise age values possible, making more user-friendly the various analytical and reporting tasks.

Calculating Age in Years, Months, and Days With The DATEDIF Function

In terms of age in full years, Excel's determination is quite accurate. But, to have a better insight into age in terms of years, months, and days one should understand the formula to calculate the precise age. 

The DATEDIF function of Excel serves to provide an easy and user-friendly way to obtain the specified information about the age of our customers. In the present section, I will discuss DATEDIF to check the accuracy of years, months, and days in the person's age.

• Calculating Age in Years

To calculate the number of full years since the date of birth, utilize the following formula:

=DATEDIF(B2, TODAY(), "Y")

• Calculating Age in Months

To determine the number of months between the birth date and the current date, employ the following DATEDIF function:

=DATEDIF(B2, TODAY(), "YM")

• Calculating Age in Days

For the precise count of days from the birth date to the present, use the following DATEDIF function:

=DATEDIF(B2, TODAY(), "MD")

Combining the Results of the DATEDIF Function

The DATEDIF function could be implemented to obtain the age in years, months and days and these components be concatenated in a single text string. Use the following formula:

="DATEDIF(B4, TODAY(), & "Y), DATEDIF(B4, TODAY(), & "YM), DATEDIF(B4, TODAY(), & "MD)"

But looking at the same result, the output does not completely make sense. Thus we need a more refined and combined output in order to get the exact day, month and age of a person. Let’s understand the same in the following section: 

It can be seen from the formula below that components of age were broken down, separated by commas and labeled.

Improving the Formula

To make the resulting output engageable and to hide the blank values, implement conditional statements. Define what each value mans

Consider the following refined formula:

DATEDIF(B2,TODAY(),"Y") & " Years, " & DATEDIF(B2,TODAY(),"YM") & " Months, " & DATEDIF(B2,TODAY(),"MD") & " Days"

Furthemore, I added this enhanced formula which guaranteed to present age information more strictly displaying only non-negative values for years, months, and days.

Now you can use the formula into Excel and they will just get the correct age in years, months and days which will be very useful for many different analytical purposes.

Conclusion 

The Excel age calculation formula​​ provides valuable insights by calculating age in years, months, and days, aiding strategic decision-making and detailed analyses. It has indeed proven beneficial in my role as a data analyst. 

Whether tracking personal milestones or conducting demographic studies, this function conveniently offers in-depth age-related data. With these knowledge in your arsenal, you can effectively process date-of-birth records, drawing easy conclusions. 

You can further upgrade your analytical prowess with the myriad of Data Analytics courses that upGrad offers. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do you calculate age in Excel?

To calculate age in Excel, you can use the DATEDIF function. The formula looks like this: =DATEDIF(birthdate, TODAY(), "Y"). Replace "birthdate" with the cell reference or actual date of birth. This formula calculates the difference in years between the birthdate and the current date (TODAY function), giving you the person's age.

2. What is the formula for calculating age?

The formula for calculating age in Excel is =DATEDIF(birthdate, TODAY(), "Y"). Here, "birthdate" refers to the cell containing the date of birth. The DATEDIF function calculates the difference in years between the birthdate and the current date, providing the age.

3. How do I calculate years in Excel?

To calculate years in Excel, you can use the DATEDIF function with the "Y" argument, which represents years. The formula is =DATEDIF(birthdate, TODAY(), "Y"). Replace "birthdate" with the actual date of birth or a cell reference containing the birthdate.

4. What is the formula for average age in Excel?

The formula for calculating the average age in Excel involves using the AVERAGE function with a range of cells containing ages. For example, if your ages are in cells A1 to A10, the formula would be =AVERAGE(A1:A10). This calculates the average age based on the ages provided in the specified range.

5.  How to calculate age in Excel in mm/dd/yyyy format?

To calculate age in Excel using the mm/dd/yyyy format, apply the DATEDIF function. The formula remains the same: =DATEDIF(birthdate, TODAY(), "Y").

6. How to calculate age in Excel from DOB?

Calculating age in Excel from the date of birth (DOB) involves using the DATEDIF function with the "Y" argument for years. The formula is =DATEDIF(birthdate, TODAY(), "Y"), where "birthdate" is the cell reference or actual date of birth.